Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-05-24
CHOOSING A PASTOR.

ID rnst cnufcn OF was eeek-
~ q pastor, an occupation that had en-
Groesed their energies for some time past.
fcr 1t was fully sever months since the
council had assembled to formally dis
mis- Mr.. Barnes and had declared the
ulpit vacant.
Nh. Barnes had labored faithfully in
their service five long years. During all
ttfs time he had preached good, if not
brilliant, sermons; attended regularly at
- prayer meeting, and made all the
pnstoral calls that one mortal man, with
ont q horse and buggy, could reasonably
b expected to make. And yet his con-
Qegation were not satisfied. Intima-
6ons finally reached the Ears of the good
man that his resignation would be re-
dgnedly accepted. He sent it in, and the
papers the next day announced the grief
Of the First church at the resignation of
their beloved pastor, Mr.. Barnes, whose
wife's health forced him to seek q more
salubrious climate.
Whereupon il devolved upon the or
phaned congregation to choose for them
oelves a pastor-a man after their own
hears-one who should possess all the
virtues of their late pastor, as well as
those which he lacked.
They proceeded to search for him in
ehe truly orthodox way, namely, by en-
tertaining candidates. Sabbath after
Sabbath beheld q different divine in the
pulpit. They came we know not
whence and returned we know not
whittier. They embraced every known
type of man, from the venerable D. d. of
three score and ten TO the immature
theological student of 81 summers.
The doctrine preached to that people
during the season of candidating was as
variegated as the patchwork silk quilt
which they presented to their late pastors
wife ON her birthday. II shaded all the
way from Catholicism to Universalism,
end brancAed out into every known
ssism." There was the ''old school" and
the '.new school," old fashioned ortho-
doxy and modern free thought. There
were sermons with strong leanings toward
Eberalim, and there were others fraught
With Calvinism and oozing orthodoxy at
every pore. And there were scientific
sermons without end, and poetical and
philosophical n 9 But in all this
variety the people found not the man
they sought. There was some insur-
mountable objection to every candidate.
Rev. Abercombie gave them good ser
mons, but the college students declared
that his gestures were ''execrable' and
would demoralize their W ''style," and
they came en- masse to the church meet
ing and voted him down.
Rev, J.. Irwin Smith was youthful and
handsome, and the young ladies shed
tears Of regret when the church decided
not TO call him. But Deacon Grimes said
his sermons were mere '.froth," and he
hoped they wouldn't, in his day, get down
70 q man who parted his hair in the mid
die.
Rev. Loring was too dramatic and
threatened to convert the staid old church
into q theatre, while good MIR. Blakesley,
who despised show, was rejected because
he didn't draw" One candidate was
zoo solemn, another too frivolous; n
wns too reserved, another too common"
And 30 the spring and summer cam
end faded away, and fall was fast emery
ing into winter, and the people were
growing weary OF their search and longed
Tor o settled pastor, but he still eluded
them. As old Mr.. Grove aptly summed
up the situation; We've had close to q
hundred men here to preach for us and
we've given 'em all a fair show, and
there hain't been a perfect man among
EN-"
At length, when expectation was well
nigh exhausted, a cheering ray penetrated
the gloom of their dependency, and in
their minds eye they could see as their
own established pastor the brilliant young
preacher who was holding audiences
s~peIlbound in a western city. A delega-
ton was dispatched to treat with him.
He had graciously consented to consider
the matter, and the whole situation was
rs encouraging as it well could be. He
was to preach for them on trial the first
Sunday in December, and on the Saturday
evening previous Deacon Gilkey and his
wife were returning from a days shop
ping in Chicago. Just as the cars were
starting Mr.. Ames, another pillar in the
church, hurried in, and seeing Mr.. and
Mrs. Gilkey, dropped into the seat behind
them, the other half of which was occu-
pied by a strange gentleman in a fur
trimmed oyercoat and a sealskin can.